Hi All,
I picked up an injury recently and need some advice if at all possible.
The initial injury was playing sports on Wednesday 31st August. It was a knee cap on knee cap collision and caused mild pain. I finished out the game and didn't feel too sore afterwards. The next day I could still feel the knee but wasn't in too much pain.
My next training run was the following Monday, 5th Sept. I only did 3 miles but the knee was giving me severe discomfort and I don't think I could have run much more. My knee was sore the next day so I decided to skip my usual run. I was still feeling pain on Wednesday so I went for a swim instead of running. My knee felt reasonably OK on the Thursday so I decided to try 10 miles. Only a minute or two into the run my knee was getting quite sore and at 2 miles I had to stop, I was in a fair bit of pain and had to limp to the nearest bus stop.
I had been scheduled to run the half marathon in the Phoenix park on Saturday gone by so wanted to get my knee checked out to see if this was possible.
I visited a physio on Monday 12th Sept and told him the whole story - my knee was not sore at this point as I had been resting it all weekend. He examined my knee and told me I was fine, it was probably internal bruising but there was no reason why couldn't do the half marathon. He even said that I could go for a run that evening.
I decided not to chance it then but went for 7.5 miles on Tuesday evening. I was in a fair amount of pain during the run but it was a tolerable level of pain, I was also conscious of the physio's advice and thought that some of the pain was between my ears anyway. Later that evening my knee was very painful, to straighten it out caused a lot of pain. The next day I was limping around the office, needless to say I wasn't happy.
I didn't fancy the prospect of paying another 55euro just to tell the physio he was wrong but I needed to know what is wrong with my knee. So I went back to the same fella on Wednesday (14th) evening. He said that he still thought it was internal bruising on the bone but probably worse than he initially thought. He strapped it up again gave me the name of a cream to get and said I needed to rest the knee for a week, if there was still pain after that I should get an x-ray. However I would need a Doctor to refer me for an x-ray.
It is now Monday 19th Sept and my knee is still sore, the pain is on the knee cap but towards the bottom of it. I didn't expect this from an innocuous knock 17 days ago, I also think the initial bad advice from the physio has exacerbated the injury.
If it is still sore on Wednesday I don't see the point in going back to the physio again to give him another 55euro to tell me to go to a doctor to get a referral for an x-ray.
Obviously I missed the half marathon. This injury is very frustrating and I want to get back running as soon as possible.
Sorry for the rambling tale but does anyone have any advice on this? Has anyone had a similar injury?
Thanks,
NOWE.

It's possible you aggravated the bursa, that's a little sac of fluid on top of the kneecap. Or you might have a bruise in the bone, or you might have damaged the cartilage behind the kneecap.

Regardless of what anyone tells you, don't run on this until the pain is gone. When I bashed my kneecap, I remember it took a couple weeks to settle down, and a couple months to fully heal.

Icing is just so important, especially if it's the bursa. Get the swelling down, and you control the pain. Check out that cream the physio recommended. If it's an anti-inflammatory, it might be really helpful.

Give it time. Avoid kneeling, running, or anything that hurts but go ahead with gentle activities that don't hurt. Bend your knee through a full range of motion if possible, to push the swelling out.

The Following User Says Thank You to janewhite1 For This Useful Post:northofwestend (09-21-2011)

Direct impact trauma to the patella is or can be a serious matter. Even moderate damage can take 12 weeks to settle. With sufficient impact damage can be done to the articular surface. You must avoid, at this stage any further direct trauma. Usually if it is serious there will be some puffyness around the knee. In the early stages an xray may still appear normal. At presentI would give up anything that irritates you knee, no point in perhaps damaging the surface cartilage. Watch out for any grinding sensations. Wait till you have no symptoms and later have an xray of you knee cap if necessary.
james

James

The Following User Says Thank You to james079 For This Useful Post:northofwestend (09-21-2011)